Lost In Austen Review

   Lost in Austen is a wonderful modernisation/spoof of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.  It is a must-see for any fan of Austen, the story itself, and especially the 1995 BBC Colin Firth/ Jennifer Ehle mini-series.  It is a modern take on the story, with a Amanda Price, a great P&P enthusiast, finding herself in the very real world of Jane Austen's Bennet family.  Amanda soon finds herself unintentionally altering events, thereby changing the story itself...but can she fix it in the end?  Does she want too? 

   The movie originally aired as a four-part British TV program and was released on DVD in April 2009 (USA) as a full movie.  This new twist on a classic story is both interesting and entertaining...with a unique "insight" into the true nature of all players.  The incredible cast includes: Jemima Rooper as Amanda Price; Eliot Cowan as Mr. Darcy; Alex Kingston and Hugh Bonneville as Mrs. and Mr. Bennet; Lindsay Duncan as Lady Catherine de Bourgh; Morven Christie as Jane Bennet; Tom Mison as Mr Bingley; Guy Henry as Mr Collins; Tom Riley as Mr. Wickham, and Christina Cole as Caroline Bingley. 

   I only have two complaints about the movie/dvd: Amanda never changes her hair style from a modern "do".  I could not understand why, other than it definitely makes her stand out amongst the other actors.  Also, the DVD formats the four-part series into a single movie version.  This makes the playing time about 3 hours.  I believe it would have been better to include a "play episode" alternative, as many series DVDs do.

  All in all, this is a wonderful, fascinating, amusing, fresh take on the classic Pride & Prejudice, and I most definitely recommend it to all Austen fans.

   (I also just heard today that Sam Mendes is planning on making Lost in Austen into a Hollywood big-screen film, with Guy Andrews writing the screen play...as of yet, this is speculation, but either way, this version is definitely worth watching!)